I backed up my registry to registry 5-2005.reg, size 44, 173 KB. I
opened it with Notepad. I see only HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. I cannot see
CURRENT_USER. Is there any other tool to edit the reg file?

Thanks.

Hi

What exactly are you trying to do with Registry?

--


Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups

"Sanford Aranoff" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>I backed up my registry to registry 5-2005.reg, size 44, 173 KB. I
> opened it with Notepad. I see only HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. I cannot see
> CURRENT_USER. Is there any other tool to edit the reg file?
>
> Thanks.

And what method did you use to backup the registry?

--
Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org

"Sanford Aranoff" wrote
>I backed up my registry to registry 5-2005.reg, size 44, 173 KB. I
> opened it with Notepad. I see only HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. I cannot see
> CURRENT_USER. Is there any other tool to edit the reg file?
>
> Thanks.

Bert Kinney wrote:

> And what method did you use to backup the registry?
>
> --
> Export the entire registry.

I found some corruption. Path was gibberish, and I replaced it with the
correct path.

I also found a item:
#############
I deleted this key.

I wanted to see what I had in the backup

"Sanford Aranoff" wrote
>
>
> Bert Kinney wrote:
>
>> And what method did you use to backup the registry?
>>
>> --
>> Export the entire registry.
>
> I found some corruption. Path was gibberish, and I replaced it with
> the
> correct path.
>
> I also found a item:
> #############
> I deleted this key.
>
> I wanted to see what I had in the backup

Export and import within Regedit is *not* a good method of backing up
the entire registry. Its value is where you are going to modify a small
section - export that section, then if needed delete it and re-import to
put things back.
First the backups are text mode, largely in Unicode and are enormous.
Second there is no proper way to restore it. Import does not replace
the current registry but merges the file into it causing the registry to
be come severely bloated. Thus unwanted additions made since the export
are not removed - which is very often what you want to do.
And third when you want to use it may not be practicable, particularly
if the system will not boot.
System Restore is the built in method of restoring the registry.

Or use ERUNT
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/

More information on how to backup the Windows XP Registry?
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/registry.htm

--
Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org

FYI:

There is not a REAL HKEY_CURRENT_USER branch in the registry.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER is really a link to HKEY_USERS\SID OF USER LOGGED IN.
There is a entry for all Users logged in under HKEY_USERS (.DEFAULT,
LocalService, NetworkService, ...). All other users can be accessed by
loading their 'ntuser.dat' hive under HKEY_USERS.

Same as for HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, it is actually a link to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Classes.

These links are created at system load time.

"Sanford Aranoff" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>I backed up my registry to registry 5-2005.reg, size 44, 173 KB. I
> opened it with Notepad. I see only HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. I cannot see
> CURRENT_USER. Is there any other tool to edit the reg file?
>
> Thanks.
>
>
>

>
> System Restore is the built in method of restoring the registry.
>
> Or use ERUNT
> http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/
>
> More information on how to backup the Windows XP Registry?
> http://windowsxp.mvps.org/registry.htm
>
> --
> Regards,
> Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
> http://bertk.mvps.org
> Member: http://dts-l.org

Thanks. You answered one question, but left unanswered another.

1. How can I backup and restore the registry? You gave a good answer: ERUNT.
Thanks.

2. How can I backup the registry so that I can view the previous values of
various keys so that I can restore the keys using regedit? System Restore
restores the entire system, including data files. Overkill.

The problem arose when I noticed garbage in two keys. One key I deleted. The
other key, Path, I restored based upon info that I gathered what the value
should be. I would like the backup to be some type of file that Notepad or
something else can read to give me the values of individual keys.

"Sanford Aranoff" wrote
> >
>> System Restore is the built in method of restoring the registry.
>>
>> Or use ERUNT
>> http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/
>>
>> More information on how to backup the Windows XP Registry?
>> http://windowsxp.mvps.org/registry.htm
>>
>> --
>> Regards,
>> Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
>> http://bertk.mvps.org
>> Member: http://dts-l.org
>
> Thanks. You answered one question, but left unanswered another.
>
> 1. How can I backup and restore the registry? You gave a good answer:
> ERUNT.
> Thanks.

You're welcome...

> 2. How can I backup the registry so that I can view the previous
> values of
> various keys so that I can restore the keys using regedit?

This is where Export within Regedit comes in handy. Export and save the
key before making changes. Right click on the exported .reg file and
select Edit to view it's contents.

> System Restore restores the entire system, including data files.
> Overkill.

No it doesn't. System Restore monitors a core set of system and
application files. System Restore does not monitor or restore user data
or documents, so it will not cause users to lose their files, e-mail,
browsing history, or favorites.

List of files and folders System Restore monitors:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/filesfolders.html

> The problem arose when I noticed garbage in two keys. One key I
> deleted. The
> other key, Path, I restored based upon info that I gathered what the
> value
> should be. I would like the backup to be some type of file that
> Notepad or
> something else can read to give me the values of individual keys.

As stated above, Right click on the .reg file and select edit. This
should open the contents of the .reg file in Notepad for easy viewing.

--
Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org

> As stated above, Right click on the .reg file and select edit. This
> should open the contents of the .reg file in Notepad for easy viewing.
>
> --
> Regards,
> Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
> http://bertk.mvps.org
> Member: http://dts-l.org

I did that a while ago. Now when I tried to open the file in Notepad it did
not open. The Export function is not reliable.

Another question: How can I verify that the registry does not contain junk?
The Path variable contained junk, which I happened to notice. Is there a
way to do this without just happening to notice?

"Sanford Aranoff" wrote
>> As stated above, Right click on the .reg file and select edit. This
>> should open the contents of the .reg file in Notepad for easy
>> viewing.
>>
>> --
>> Regards,
>> Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
>> http://bertk.mvps.org
>> Member: http://dts-l.org
>
> I did that a while ago. Now when I tried to open the file in Notepad
> it did not open.

Right click the exported .reg file and select Open with - Choose
Programs, then Notepad and click OK.

> The Export function is not reliable.

Never has a problem with it here!

> Another question: How can I verify that the registry does not contain
> junk?
> The Path variable contained junk, which I happened to notice. Is there
> a
> way to do this without just happening to notice?

If the system is stable, then leave the registry alone. There's not need
to mess with the registry unless a specific problem requires it.

--
Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org